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Boardwalk name is for real

Boardwalk is the name chosen for a proposed new condo/hotel on King Street in historic downtown Chatham.

The Chatham Daily News learned Tuesday the project will feature 64 one, two and three bedroom condos and approximately 32 hotel rooms.

Developer Victor Boutin of the Everlast Group said the ground floor will feature approximately 15,000-square feet of commercial space.

Boutin, who hails from the Toronto area, said ground breaking is scheduled for this fall.

"Soil samples are now being taken and once that is completed we plan to begin construction,'' he said.

Boutin is not new to Chatham.

The business entrepreneur purchased the former Park Street United Church along with a number of homes on Queen Street.

Boutin has also reportedly submitted a bid on the current YMCA building on King Street West.

"Chatham is the place for the future,'' said Boutin. "Believe me when I say it will be a historical time for Chatham and very exciting for everybody.''

Boardwalk is the top-priced piece of property on the Monopoly game board. Earlier this year, Chatham-Kent won a national vote, granting it the priciest piece of real estate on Canadian Monopoly.

Business entrepreneur Dan Warrener of Chatham said he welcomes the new downtown condo/hotel project.

Warrener, who purchased the former Armoury in Tecumseh Park, is in the mist of renovating a three-storey building at the intersection of King and Fifth streets.

The Chatham Daily News has also received an inquiry from a businessman and his wife wanting to know how to get in touch with the condo/hotel developer.

"My wife and I were in Chatham recently and stayed at the Retro Suites -what a great place,'' said Mark Crawford of Crawford Graphic Services. "We are very interested in a high-rise condo in Chatham.''

Crawford described Chatham as being "heaven on earth.

"The people are great, the town is never in a fast pace, the food is great and the Blue was cold,'' he said in his e-mail.

Mayor Randy Hope said he has been working closely with Boutin on the downtown condo/hotel project as well as with other projects the entrepreneur is considering for the area.